SLIPPERY ROCK - The University of Illinois hasn't contended for a national football championship or threatened to win the NCAA basketball title in a number of years.

But when it comes to women's wheelchair basketball, the Fighting Illini are a national power.

Illinois defeated the Lady Texans, 42-39, Friday at Slippery Rock University to reach the National Women's Wheelchair Basketball Tournament championship game for the fifth straight year.

The 30th annual even concludes with the title game at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Aebersold Student Recreation Center. Tryouts for the U.S. Paralympic women's wheelchair hoop team take place here Sunday morning.

Four members of the Illini - Stephanie Wheeler, Christina Ripp, Jennifer Warkins and Janna Crawford - played for the U.S. Paralympic team last year.

The Illini are one of three women's wheelchair teams playing as an official NCAA-sanctioned collegiate squad. The University of Arizona and University of Alabama, which is in its first year, are the others.

"I'm bothered by the fact schools don't pay more attention to competitive sports for the disabled," Illinois coach Mike Frogley said. "They all complain the money's not there and they can't get the funding.

"All I know is if the University of Florida needed $200,000 for weight room equipment for football, it would find a way to get the money."

Illinois has won 11 national women's wheelchair basketball championships since 1990. The university began its program in the early 1970s, making it the oldest women's organization in the country.

"It took a long time for women's collegiate sports to get where they are," Frogley said. "I'm hoping it doesn't take disabled collegiate sports that long and litigation isn't required.

"Hopefully, we've learned our lesson from Title IX."

Crawford averages 14 points and 12 rebounds per game and is working on her second master's degree at the university. A former standout player at Auburn High School in Washington State, she developed a staph infection during knee surgery.

"I basically have the knee of an 80-year-old woman," Crawford said. "Wheelchair basketball changed my life. It allowed me to play competitive sports again."

Crawford went to Africa last summer to promote sports for the disabled and plans to return this summer.

Warkins was a high school teammate of current WNBA star Tamika Catchings at Stevenson High School in Illinois. They were part of two state championship teams.

Warkins has since blown out her knee three times and has suffered permanent damage. She can walk without much of a limp, but her basketball career appeared over.

Now pursuing a doctorate at Illinois, she is averaging 25 points per game with its wheelchair team.

"This is so much more challenging than able-bodied basketball," Warkins said. "It's a lot more physical and there's a lot more communication on the court.

"Opponents grab your shirt in able-bodied basketball, but you can slip away. They hold your chair in this sport and you're stuck.

"Since I'm not in a wheelchair (outside of basketball), I had to get used to the wheelchair and the game at the same time." Warkins added.

Illinois is 14-17 this season but did not play against another women's team before this tournament. Its earlier wins this weekend were 83-31 over the CAC Shooting Stars of Los Angeles and 58-31 over the RIC Express of Chicago.

Twelve of its 17 losses this year are to Division I men's teams. The Illini are 12-5 against other male opponents.

"Those Division I teams are the top three men's wheelchair teams in the country," Frogley said.

Illinois averages 60 points per game, "just below what able-bodied collegiate teams average," the coach added.

Crawford said she came to Illinois solely to learn the wheelchair game.

"I got hurt in 1993, volunteered to work the Paralympics in 1996 and played for the Paralympic team in Sydney in 2000," she said. "At Illinois, you are being taught the game by experts, you practice five days a week, the learning curve is much quicker."

Slippery Rock's Steel City Starz program is 18 months old, the squad has access to the Aebersold court only one day a week and is still looking for its first win.

"Our goal is to get as close to that program as we can," Starz coach John Sikora said of Illinois. "They play on a campus as an official collegiate team and that carries a lot of benefits.

"As a community team, we're a little different. But we don't have to wait for players to become college-eligible. There's a 14 and 15-year-old playing on our men's team right now."

"It takes time to build a program," Frogley said. "You're not gonna win for a couple of years. You need patience in that respect."

The reward far exceeds the patience.

"Every player of every skill level can play this game," Warkins said. "If you can't shoot, you can seal or pick, free up a teammate or shut down an opponent.

"I'll always be a part of this sport. Wherever I go, I'm going to play for a team or start one up. I may play in Europe for a men's team.

"For athletes who get hurt and don't think they can play or compete anymore, this opens up a whole new world. There needs to be more of it," she added.